The 39 Steps

A Comedy showing Jul 13 2013 - Aug 17 2013

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Cast & Crew

The story begins when our hero, Richard Hannay (who is aimlessly bored with his life) decides to go to the theatre. While there he meets a mysterious woman named Annabella Schmidt who turns out to be a secret agent trying to save England from a mysterious foreign power. When she is murdered in his apartment, he finds himself accused and escapes to Scotland in hopes of completing her mission. Hannay hops a train to both evade the pursuing authorities and a team of assassins sent to kill him before he discovers the meaning of the puzzling “39 Steps”. In order to save England, he must utilize his wit and outsmart a team of spies. While on his adventure, Hannay is met by an outrageous cast of characters, from suspicious Scotsmen to an evil professor to an innocent female companion (with a temper). A whirlwind adventure, The 39 Steps pays homage to Hitchcock and the classic film mysteries with an unapologetic, tongue-in-cheek flare. Based off the Hitchcock film, The 39 Steps is a fast-paced farce where a cast of four portray more than 150 characters for a night of maze, espionage and flirtatious entanglements. Winner of two Tony Awards and proclaimed “Absurdly enjoyable” by The New York Times, this show is strictly for laughs!

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Michael Cusimano

Clown 2

Michael Cusimano is so excited to breathe life into so many different characters in this larger-than-life production, though he is no stranger to embodying multiple characters in a show. Last year he was seen in the Malibu Stage Company’s production of Cabaret as Bobby, the Customs Officer, and Lady #2. He has also played a precocious 10-year-old boy, a 65 year-old woman, an English estate manager, and a malicious ghost, all at once in The Turn of the Screw at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, where Michael received his BFA in Acting last May. Michael was most recently seen in Cabrilllo Music Theatre’s production of Grease in the role of Danny Zuko.

This is Michael’s Glendale Centre Theatre debut and he is so grateful to be working with the exceptionally talented cast and crew in such a beautiful venue, with all the opportunities and challenges of being surrounded by the audience! He’d like to give thanks to his parents and brother, Andy, for their constant support and encouragement, to Marquis for rehearsing with him into the late hours of the night, to Tim and Todd for giving him this great opportunity, and a huge thanks to his phenomenal castmates, especially Louis, his partner in clowning crime, from whom he as learned so much. Enjoy the show, and hold onto your hats!

Louis Lotorto

Clown 1

Louis would like to thank Tim and Brenda Dietlein for welcoming him to the Glendale Centre Theatre family. A native of Seattle and proud member of Actors’ Equity, Louis has worked professionally in regional theatre for 25 years. Regional credits include A.C.T.(Seattle), The Shakespeare Theatre Company(Washington, D.C.-Helen Hayes Award Nomination for Ariel in The Tempest), the Oregon and California Shakespeare Festivals, Portland Center Stage, Berkeley, South Coast, North Coast, San Jose and Artists’ Repertory Theatres(Drama Critic’s Circle Award for Ned in The Normal Heart/Destiny of Me) among others. Los Angeles credits include several productions at A Noise Within (L.A. Ovation Award Nomination for Camille in A Flea In Her Ear), Ensemble Theatre Company, The Odyssey, Rubicon, Colony, International City Theatres and The Ahmanson in An Enemy Of The People (with Sir Ian McKellen). Louis has also done extensive voice-over work and can be heard as Jesus in the recently released TNIV audio Bible produced by Zondervan. Visit Louis at: www.louislotorto.com

Brent Schindele

Richard Hannay

Brent is honored to join this talented cast, crew and production team, and pleased to return to Glendale Centre Theatre, where he played the title role in The Scarlet Pimpernel in 2009. Brent graduated from Dartmouth, trained in New York and got his start as Tony in the national touring company of West Side Story. He played Peter, Simon the Zealot and keyboards in the orchestra for the Broadway tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, and helped create the leading-man roles for the Off-Broadway hit The Musical of Musicals – The Musical!, also appearing in its regional premieres around the country. His screen credits include COLD CASE, IT IS WRITTEN, SQUARESVILLE and THIRTEEN DAYS with Kevin Costner. Recent Southern California stage turns include Sky Masterson in Guys & Dolls, Bob Wallace in White Christmas, Curly McLain in Oklahoma!, Lancelot in Camelot, and Franklin Shepard in Merrily We Roll Along. At Reprise! in Westwood, he appeared in City of Angels, opposite Scott Bakula in No Strings and with Kelli O’Hara in Sunday in the Park with George, directed by Jason Alexander. Locally, Brent starred in Souvenir at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, Incident at Vichy at Sierra Madre Playhouse, and most recently as Sam Mason in Girl Crazy at the Alex Theatre. In 2011 he originated the role of Johnny Blue in the world premiere of South Street at the Pasadena Playhouse. In the fall, Brent will play Max Mencken in Superman in San Francisco, but not before getting married, more importantly! For E. – Not A Day Goes By. I Corinthians 13:7.

Eva Swan

Annabella/Pamela/Margaret

Eva Swan has her own aliases – Ava, Evie, Eves, Baby Grape (don’t ask), but Miss Swan will do. She fell off her bed laughing at this play when reading in preparation for the audition. It is a pleasure to work at the Glendale Centre Theatre in this wild production that gives her an excuse to study Hitchcock and be one degree closer to Grace Kelly in her work. Eva is from the Bluegrass State and she flexed her acting chops in Chicago before moving to La-La. She loves dialects, wigs, and physical comedy to the max. Thank you for coming, tell your friends who work in casting. www.evacswan.com

Todd Nielsen

Director

Todd is excited to bring this wild, wooly and hilarious mystery thriller to Glendale Centre Theatre audiences having previously directed their productions of 1776 and The Secret Garden. Todd has worked extensively as Director, Choreographer and performer in and around the LA, Long Beach and San Diego areas. He served as Resident Director for the National tour of Disney’s The Lion King. He has directed for San Diego Musical Theatre, Cabrillo Music Theatre, Musical Theatre West, International City Theatre, The Welk Resort, Moonlight Ampitheatre, The Colony Theatre, The Norris Center for the Performing Arts, Chapman University, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, The Nine O’Clock Players and others. So buckle your seat belts and hold on as you journey along with our hero, Richard Hannay, through our hilarious ode to the Hitchcock classic, The 39 Steps! XOJA.

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